Daily iron ore price update (crack!)

Here are the iron ore charts for March 4, 2015:

Uh oh. Paper markets just gave off a loud “crack” as the floor gave way. Singapore 12 month swaps broke to new post-GFC lows. Dalian six month futures were flogged late in the day and sit a few points above the same. Rebar average also gave way. Qingdao spot held up very well in the circumstances with minor falls and benchmark fell 20 cents to $61.10.

Also out are the Port Hedland shipping statistics for February (largely BHP and FMG) which showed firm demand with 35.7 million tonnes (mt) shipped, of which, 30.2mt went to China. The big volume ramp up has passed though we would expect to see incremental increases across the year as BHP continues to squeeze Jimblebar. Don’t forget that RIO will join in next month as it begins to use its shiny new rail and port infrastructure at Cape Lambert pushing to its 330mtpa target.

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About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.